The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for asthma, hemorrhoids, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to service-connected asthma. The VA will request additional medical opinions regarding the use of corticosteroids in asthma treatment, the reliability of PFT results since April 2014, the nature and severity of hemorrhoids, and the etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder. The TDIU claim is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional medical opinions are needed to clarify the extent of corticosteroid use in asthma treatment, assess the reliability of PFT results since April 2014, determine the nature and severity of hemorrhoids, and evaluate whether an acquired psychiatric disorder is due to or caused by service-connected asthma.
- Claimed conditions
- Asthma, Hemorrhoids, Acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19184784
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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